AL-BIDIYA MOSQUE

Even outside official opening hours, the small building is easily visible from the roadside. In the morning, however, it is possible to enter the complex, which was renovated in 2003 thanks to a collaboration between the Dubai Municipality and the Government of Fujairah. You can also see the remains of a boat and climb the rocky knolls to reach one of the Portuguese-era watchtowers. The mosque itself, which is surrounded by a low wall and whose walls are made of gypsum and dried mud coated with plaster, is very small (7 m²). Its four small domes placed very close to each other are supported by a central pillar as the only support, as there is no framework. Each dome is made up of 3 domes, placed one on top of the other, and during the construction, they started by removing the largest one. The whole is harmonious and represents a unique model in the Emirates. In 1997, the government of Fujairah in collaboration with an Australian team excavated around the foundations to extract samples in order to precisely date the building. The results of the analysis confirmed that it was built around 1446. Non-Muslims can ask the imam for permission to look inside when no worshippers are present, provided that women cover their heads. A few hundred metres south of this site, the village of Bidiya bears the traces of human activity (3rd millennium BC).